Cost of Living Calculator

"The cost of living is the cost of
maintaining a certain lifestyle'" it varies from city to
city and place to place and even from person to person.

The best any calculator can do is
to compare averages for a variety of items including food,
housing, gas, healthcare, etc. and see how the cost in one
city compares to purchasing those same items in another
city.

Compare Two Cities Cost of Living

To find the difference in the cost of living from where
you are living now to where you are moving to, select the
city you are moving from and the city you are moving to
and then click Calculate.

If you enter both a job title and salary you will
be presented with salary comparisons between locations.
If you only enter cities the Cost of Living Calculator will
generate a chart comparing the overall cost of living differences
between the two cities as well as the difference in groceries,
housing, utilities, transportation and health care. You
will also be presented a chart comparing your new city with
other major cities such as Miami, Anchorage, Dallas, New
York and Knoxville.

In a few simple steps, our cost of living
calculator will provide a cost of living comparison.
Just tell us your current city and the city you'd like to
compare it to and the calculator will show a side by side
comparison. Thus it is easy to see if you could maintain
your current standard of living if you accept a job in a
new city. For instance if you want to compare
the cost of living in Chicago with the
cost of living in Richmond VA or Miami or Anchorage
simply use the Cost of Living Calculator below.

Enter Moving From and Moving
To Cities:

(Scroll down to see comparison
chart results)

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All cost of living calculators including the one above
are based on a "cost of living index" like the one created
by the
U.S. Census Bureau where the average city is equal to
100. The cost of living in high cost cities like New York
or Los Angeles will be well above 100 and the cost of living
in low cost cities will be below 100. The various components
of the
index are given different weights depending on estimates
of what percentage of thier income an average family will
spend on the various components.

In the data collected in the 2010 census Akron, Ohio
was very near "average" at 100.2. In the BLS index groceries
count for 13% of the total and were above average cost at
an idex value of 105.1, Utilities (10% of total) were 107.9,
Transportation (12%) were 107.1 but living costs were mitigated
by Housing (29% at 99.7, Health Care (4%) at 86.8 and Misc.
goods and services (32%) at 96.0. When all of the factors
are combined the cost of living in Akron is very near the
average for all cities in the U.S.

The index does not measure
inflation, but does compare prices at a single point
in time.

Some high cost of living cities include Anchorage,Alaska
at 128.4, Baltimore Maryland at 119.4, Boston, Massachusetts
at 132.5, Honolulu, Hawaii at 165.7, Los Angeles, California
at 136.4, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 126.5, Washington,
D.C. at 140.1 and Manhattan, New York at a whopping 216.7.

Low cost of living cities include Amarillo, Texas at
89.5, Conway, Arkansas at 86.6, Dodge City, Kansas at 89.3,
Douglas, Georgia at 88.6, Greenville, South Carolina at
90.3, Indianapolis, Indiana at 87.2, Johnson City, Tennessee
at 86.7, Louisville, Kentucky at 87.7, Pueblo, Colorado
at 85.6 and Springfield, Illinois at 85.8.

It is interesting to note that even within the same state
there may be both high and lost cost places to live. For
instance, the cost of living in Rochester, N.Y. at 100.0
is exactly average but New York City costs more than twice
as much.